


the gap between us

by toadpot



Series: when emotions run high [3]
Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dragons, Angst, Dragons, Emotional, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, F/M, Family Bonding, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Grief/Mourning, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III and Snotlout Jorgenson are Cousins, Hurt/Comfort, Post-How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, Twins, griefing, loss of dragons, post httyd-3, thorston twins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:06:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26214562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toadpot/pseuds/toadpot
Summary: "One shall fall, and one shall rise." Is what their mother had told they every morning when they woke, and every night when they slept.It was today they understood what she meant.
Relationships: Barf & Belch & Ruffnut Thorston & Tuffnut Thorston, Barf and Belch/Ruffnut Thorston/Tuffnut Thorston, Barf/Ruffnut Thorston, Belch/Tuffnut Thorston, Heather & Astrid Hofferson, Heather/Astrid Hofferson, Ruffnut Thorston & Tuffnut Thorston, Ruffnut Thorston/Tuffnut Thorston
Series: when emotions run high [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1898104
Comments: 2
Kudos: 35





	the gap between us

**Author's Note:**

> i fucking love the twins and i think their relationship with each other is really deep and no one else except from them really understands what it feels like for them.
> 
> before anything, i love astrid, and this is nothing but a plotline!! 
> 
> comments and kudos are appreciated :)

Ever since the dragons had left Berk, there was a silence that was never filled, it didn't matter if the great hall was booming with noise during meal-times, there was a void that remained open, that pleaded for the sounds of the dragons to fill it. 

The Thorston twins sat on the wooden sofa that was in front of their hearty fire, and the silence of their house was filled up by the crackle of the fire, and the distant laugh of vikings. The usual upbeat twins had be rendered lifeless by the loss of the dragons, the usual jump in their step as they worked around the village replaced by a slouch and never-leaving under eye bags that sagged low with weight.

"This is my fault," Ruffnut mumbled, "if only I had looked back-" She began, running a hand through her blonde hair that was out of their usual braids, and yanked on her roots, "if only I had thought it through, we wouldn't be here." 

Tuffnut looked at his sister, eyes filled with emotion that was unusual for both siblings, "We all act recklessly."

"But this time, it cost us our dragons!" Ruffnut all but yelled, standing up abruptly, skin itching to punch her fist into something, maybe the trunk of a tree. 

"Astrid- _Astrid_ doesn't care," Ruffnut growled in anger as she paced around the small room, thinking about the other carefree blonde.

"Astrid's happy," Tuffnut cut through, his voice grounding Ruffnut's rising emotions, like an anchor of a battleship, "She's moved on, and it's time the rest of us did too."

"But, it's like she's brushed aside 5 years of our life, Tuff." Ruffnut reasoned as she slumped back against the wooden couch.

This time, Tuffnut couldn't disagree. 

"It's like everyone else, except from us, Snotlout and Hiccup have moved on," Ruffnut complained, "and it's my fault that we're all like this."

"Ruff-"

"No, don't make excuses." Ruffnut cut in sharply, blue eyes daring her brother to continue his sentence, "It is _my_ fault, the dragons may be happier and they may be safer in the Hidden World, but that doesn't stop us from feeling- _feeling lost_." She exclaimed, breathing harshly as tears pricked at her eyes.

"I wonder how they're doing," Tuffnut said instead, eyes looking out of their window and into the night sky.

Instead of replying, Ruff moved her hand to rest on top of Tuffnut's, and gripped onto it tightly, like it was her lifeline, and the only thing keeping her adrift in the whirlpool of emotions she felt.

The warmth was reciprocated as Tuff gripped just as hardly, the coolness of his iron rings digging into her fingers.

"There's this silence," He spoke up again, "and that's all I hear nowadays." 

"I feel like," Ruffnut began, voice dropping from her previous yelling to a quiet whisper, "we've lost the best thing that's ever happened to us." 

At his sisters words, Tuff felt the air that was ledged inside his lungs leave in a haste breath. "How is it, that something that was apart of our lives for 5 years, has this effect on us. It's been 2 years, Ruff. The whole village except from us have moved on." 

2 long years, 2 years too long since the roar of a dragon in the morning, the flap of wings at mealtimes, the hiss of Barf's gas and the crackle of Belch's fire.

"Astrid's fallen in love, and Fish is off on his adventures!" Tuff exclaimed, now his emotions raging like Hookfang's temperamental flames.

And as quick as his emotions had riled up, they left him in a breath before Ruff could comfort him. "I never thought we'd end up here." He sighed as he ran a hand through his own long hair, braids be damned.

"What do you mean?" Ruff questioned as she moved to brush a stray hair out of his face.

"I knew at one point in our lives, we'd have to say goodbye. I hoped it was on our deathbeds, not- not _like this_." He sighed as he dropped his head into his hands, shoulders slumping further.

Ruffnut nodded, as she moved to rest her head on his folded shoulders, "there's this gap between us, that the dragons used to fill." 

Outside, there was a hiss, the sound of someone putting out their fire and somewhere else there was a crackle of a flint and stone lighting up another fire.

"That sounded like them," Ruff whispered as her eyes filled with tears, and as her voice shook.

Tuff's shoulders began to shake, dam of emotions breaking as he quaked with emotions as the two embraced each other in the earthquake of emotions they felt, trying to stay stable.

Through a thick voice, wet eyelashes and tear stained face, Tuff raised his head once more, eyes darting to look at Ruff who stared back at him with her own tears running down her face.

"One shall stand," He whispered, eyes clamming shut as a new wave of emotions washed over him at the memory of their late mother.

"and one shall fall." She ended, choking over her words as she cried harder, this time their clasped hands doing nothing but reminding them of what they had lost.


End file.
